The world in brief

2022-08-30

Ukrainian forces launched “offensive actions in several directions” in the southern region
of Kherson, according to a Ukrainian military spokesperson. They had been hinting at
a counter-offensive for a long time. The regional capital, also called Kherson, was the first
big Ukrainian city to be captured by Russian forces in March. The operation appears to

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have started with rocket strikes on command centres and bridges overnight. It remains
unclear whether these attacks presage a large-scale Ukrainian ground offensive in the
south.
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Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, accused Russia of economic terrorism as
energy prices in Europe surged because of Russia throttling its gas supplies. Uniper, a
German utility company, asked the German government for an extra €4bn ($4bn) in
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loans, on top of a €15bn bailout agreed in July. Ben van Beurden, the chief executive of
Shell, a British oil and gas company, warned that the crisis could last for several winters.

Pakistan’s minister for climate change called unprecedented extra cycles of monsoon rain
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currently flooding the country a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic

proportions”. The death toll along its waterways surpassed 1,000, including hundreds of
children. In appealing for international help, the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said
that 33m of Pakistan’s 230m people had been affected. The foreign minister added a plea
to the IMF: with so many farmers’ crops ruined, just as the country sits at the brink of
financial catastrophe, the fund’s sustained assistance is desperately needed.

At least 12 people died and over 100 were injured in Iraq during a protest after Muqtada
al-Sadr, an influential Shia cleric, announced his resignation from politics. Hundreds of
Mr al-Sadr’s followers stormed the government palace in Baghdad, the capital, clashing
violently with police and rival Shia factions. Iraq has been mired in political deadlock
since Mr al-Sadr’s party won the most seats in last October’s election, but not enough to
govern with a majority.

Asian stockmarkets slid as traders made sense of the smoke signals sent up from a
meeting of the world’s central bankers, who gathered in Wyoming over the weekend.
The Federal Reserve’s chairman, Jerome Powell, implied the fight against inflation will
entail further “pain”. Japan’s Nikkei index shed 2.7% on Monday. The yields on two-year
Treasuries hit their highest level since the financial crisis of 2007-09.

Singapore loosened its visa rules in the hope of wooing foreign workers into its tight
labour market. From January expats earning at least S$30,000 ($21,500) a month will be
eligible for a five-year work pass. The financial centre’s manpower minister, Tan See Leng,
said the move aimed to “cement Singapore’s position as a global hub for talent”.

The UN’s nuclear agency, the IAEA, sent inspectors to the Zaporizhia nuclear power
station in the south-east of Ukraine, even as Russian forces bombarded towns around the
plant. Russian troops captured the facility in March but the reactors are still run by
Ukrainian staff, and, according to Russia, being shelled by Ukrainian forces. Residents in
Zaporizhia are being taught how to treat themselves with iodine in the event of radiation
exposure.

Fact of the day: 80, the number of captured soldiers from Ukraine’s Azov regiment facing
a Russian-controlled trial.
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